Closing summary
It’s coming up to 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Friday he was “confident” that Ukraine was prepared to retake more territory as Kyiv readies for a new offensive against invading Russian forces. AFP reports that Stoltenberg told journalists in Germany when asked if Ukraine has what it needs to successfully execute the offensive: “I’m confident that they will now be in a position to be able to liberate even more land. One of the main issues here today has been to go through all the different capabilities, systems, supplies that the Ukrainians need to be able to retake more land.”
Germany, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday for a hub to repair Leopard tanks used in Ukraine to fight Russian forces, Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said at a meeting of allies at the Ramstein airbase. However, he sounded a note of caution about any early invite for Ukraine to join Nato. All parties agreed on how to finance such a hub, which will cost €150m-200m (£133m-178m) a year and could begin operations at the end of May, Pistorius told reporters.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has tweeted again about the meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group in Ramstein, Germany, saying that Ukraine is “de facto, already a part of the alliance’s security space” having reached “unprecedented levels of interoperability”.
International backing for Ukraine holds “strong and true”, the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said on Sunday, as he opened a meeting in Germany with allies to discuss further support for Kyiv. On the eve of the talks gathering representatives from 50 countries, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, had urged western allies to send more fighter jets and long-range missiles to help repel Russian troops. AFP reports that Austin said: “Our support for the forces of freedom in Ukraine holds strong and true. At today’s contact group meeting, we’ll focus on three key issues – air defence, ammunition and enablers.”
A Moscow court today issued a warrant for the arrest of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, accusing the spy chief of organising “terrorist attacks” inside Russia, the state-owned news agency RIA reported. Reuters reports that the RIA cited the court as saying that Budanov was accused of offences related to terrorism and arms smuggling. The move against him was announced “in absentia”, in an apparent acknowledgement that Budanov cannot be immediately detained.
The Canadian government on Friday announced C$39m (£23.26m) in new military assistance for Ukraine that will include 40 sniper rifles, 16 radio sets and a donation to a Nato fund to help Kyiv in its war against Russia, Reuters reports. The latest round of Canadian aid, which also includes ammunition for the rifles, was announced by defence minister Anita Anand at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, where Nato defence officials are meeting to discuss new military supplies for Ukraine. The rifles and ammunition will be sourced from Canada-based Prairie Gun Works, while the radios will be from L3Harris Technologies, according to a statement from the Canadian defence ministry. The contribution to the Nato fund, of about C$34.6m will help to provide Ukraine with fuel supplies and other assets.
The UK on Friday imposed sanctions on five people linked to the arrest of Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was jailed for 25 years this week. Elena Lenskaya – a judge who approved Kara-Murza’s arrest, along with Denis Kolesnikov and Andrei Zadachin – investigators involved in the arrest of Kara-Murza, will all be hit with sanctions. FSB agents Alexander Samofal and Konstantin Kudryavtsev, who followed Kara-Murza on multiple trips before he was poisoned in 2015, will also be receive sanctions.
A Russian warplane has accidentally fired a weapon into the city of Belgorod near Ukraine, causing an explosion and damaging buildings, the Tass news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying. Late on Thursday, local authorities reported a large blast in the city, which lies just across the border from Ukraine. Belgorod’s regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said two women had been injured and four apartment buildings and four cars damaged. Announcing a state of emergency, he said on the Telegram messaging app there was a “huge” crater 20 metres (65ft) wide in the city centre.
Reuters reports that the Ukrainian activist Oleksandra Romantsova this week suggested to South African officials that it would be better for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to dial in to this year’s Brics summit in South Africa rather than attend in person. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin last month, and South Africa as an ICC member would be required to detain Putin if he attends the 15th Brics summit that South Africa will host in August.
Secretary general of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, on Friday reaffirmed Nato’s commitment that Ukraine would eventually join the military alliance. Speaking ahead of a meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group at Ramstein airbase in Germany, Reuters reports he also told the media that, once the war in Ukraine ends, Kyiv must have “the deterrence to prevent new attacks”.
Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, posted that he had a “fruitful” bilateral meeting with his US counterpart at Ramstein airbase in Germany on Friday morning.
Ukraine’s future lies in Nato, Stoltenberg had said on Thursday during his first visit to the country since Russia’s invasion 14 months ago. Nato’s chief pledged continued military support for Ukraine, saying: “Nato stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.” He invited the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to the Nato summit in Vilnius in July.
Zelenskiy said Nato needed to invite Ukraine to become a member and give it a timeframe for accession. “There is not a single objective barrier to the political decision to invite Ukraine into the alliance,” he said. “And now, when most people in Nato countries and the majority of Ukrainians support Nato accession, is the time for the corresponding decisions.”
Ukraine’s air defence has claimed to have downed eight Iranian-manufactured “Shahed” drones overnight.
The first trucks carrying Ukrainian food products including corn and eggs were bound to start transit via Poland to the Netherlands on Friday morning, a Polish customs official said, as rules allowing the shipments took effect overnight.
The G7 is considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing Japanese government sources.
Updated
Reuters reports that Ukrainian activist Oleksandra Romantsova this week suggested to South African officials that it would be better for Russian President Vladimir Putin to dial in to this year’s BRICS summit in South Africa rather than attend in person.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin last month, and South Africa as an ICC member would be required to detain Putin if he attends the 15th BRICS Summit that South Africa will host in August.
The BRICS group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a bloc seen as a powerful emerging-market alternative to the West.
Romantsova told Reuters in an interview at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where she was participating in a seminar:
If Putin comes here ... they (South Africa) need to arrest him. It’s a complicated political situation. So better that Putin join via Zoom.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week that his government was still deliberating what to do about the warrant for Putin.
Three officials with knowledge of those deliberations have told Reuters that Putin attending the BRICS summit virtually was an option that was being considered.
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